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A Little Experiment

I’m 29 weeks pregnant and still “going strong” (surviving!) with running. We are currently in Seattle for three weeks and the perfect temps (60s, no humidity when I run in the morning) have really helped my running. My first Sunday here, I ran 6.5 miles with the Oiselle group and felt great the whole time. I’ve been doing more like 3 miles a day since then, plus a lot of walking and sightseeing. It’s funny how much of a tourist I become when I’m here even though I lived here for 5 years!

Let me tell you about a little experiment that took place right before we came to Seattle. I’ve had little itches here and there to do some fast running, and I mostly ignore them, other than my strides about a month ago. Still, back when I was about 23 weeks pregnant, I got this idea that I wanted to run a 90 second quarter (400 meters on the track). This has always been sort of a baseline for me no matter what running shape I’m in, I know I can always do a 90 second quarter (400 meters on the track, 6:00/mile pace). It’s like a comeback pace, a way to build confidence for track work after an injury/baby/etc.

After talking with some friends about 5k training, I got a little obsessed with running a 90 second quarter while pregnant. I just wanted to do one, to see how it felt, knowing I could back out at any point. I thought about it every day for about a month, then finally, when I was in the middle of my 27th week of pregnancy, officially in the 3rd trimester, I decided it was “now or never”.

27 weeks instagram pic, pre-run

27 week awkward front view!

27 weeks pregnant belly hanging with my dog nephews.

It was a warm, muggy, day in Amanda, Ohio and my baby belly was feeling pretty happy. I ran about 2.5 miles around town with my husband and told him we needed to stop at the track. My instructions to him were simple: pace me through a 90 second quarter. (He had no idea I’d been stewing over this “workout” for a month.) Within a minute of telling him the plan we were executing it. Honestly, it felt FAST from the start. I optimistically thought we were on pace for something in the low 80s. As we went through the first 100 meters, my husband said 22.5, right on pace! “Ah! Seriously? Ok, keep pushing. And the rest went like that until I finished in 89! Success!

I ran back to the little park where my car was parked, excited to still have some speed despite the growing belly and sore muscles all over that come with pregnancy. I did some good dynamic stretching (don’t skip the details!) and felt a little more proud than necessary for the rest of the day.

Speaking of running fast, did you hear about the new Oiselle Haute Volée team? You can read the blog post here. I’m so thrilled to be a part of this incredible group of speedy ladies! Reading their profiles makes me want to throw on some bunhuggers and get racing! Like I said on Twitter yesterday, I’m so excited to be growing Baby Boy Bigham, but can’t wait to start racing fast again ~ January 2014!

That is amazing Jen! Wow, I would struggle to do that 400 now, let alone 27 weeks pregnant. Congrats! I ran until 32 weeks with my 3rd pregnancy. Not fast though, just nice and easy. Hard to believe that baby is now 4 1/2 yrs old.
You look so great. What a difference between 27 and 29 weeks pics. This baby is growing very nicely! I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet you last weekend. I was in town for Ragnar with Nuun team. I was at Oiselle HQ on Sunday. Sarah Chan was raving about you!

Thanks Nicole!! Yes, most of my runs are incredibly slow and easy with lots of walking. I wish we could have met! I hope our paths cross sometime soon!! I just met Sarah last week! She’s just as wonderful (and beautiful!) in person as online!

I know I tell you often but this just solidifys what an incredible athlete and truly awesome and inspirational person you are Jenn. I cannot wait to see how your training goes and when you get to the 2016 trials!

Really inspiring I hope I’ll be lucky enough to get to run during my pregnancies if/when I get the chance, but just thinking about busting out 90 second quarters with a baby belly just puts me in awe 😉 Congrats on hitting that sub-90!